Human Rights Watch estimates that the Syrian conflict has claimed more than 20,000 lives. Videos start to emerge on the internet showing rebel soldiers executing four Assad loyalists. The recording leaves the international community aghast, concluding that Syrian opposition forces are also guilty of atrocity. Assad's air force counters by indiscriminately bombing bread lines in Aleppo. In reaction to the Bashar Al Assad's blatant disregard for human life, Syrian prime minister Riyad Hijab defects, calling the regime "barbaric for killing unarmed people." Meanwhile, after Russian and China block peace resolution processes among other diplomatic deadlocks, Kofi Annan steps down as head of the UN's special envoy to Syria. It is a major blow towards the solution of the crisis. With the UN proving ineffectual, Iran confirms that its revolutionary guard is assisting the Assad Regime with intelligence and financial resources. It is the first third party to openly announce their involvement in the conflict.

The neighborhood of Al Sakhour--your neighborhood--has gradually transitioned into one of the front lines in Aleppo. You never left your house much before, but now it is impossible. Indiscriminate shelling has become routine for regime troops in Sakhour. Equally as disheartening is that you are beginning to witness the same starvation tactics appear in Aleppo that the Syrian Army employed in Homs several months ago. You notice that the worst of the bread scantness occurs in Bustan Al Qasr and Sakhour--the two front line neighborhoods that now split Aleppo into rebel and regime-controlled areas. You, predictably, are very vocal online about Aleppo's--your city's--dire circumstances. And it's not long after the internet starts sounding off about Aleppo, that you receive a sms text from the Syrian government. It only reads: "Game Over."